Game-like Situations Research Articles

Effectiveness of Gamification Intervention Platform on the Work Stress of Shift-Work Nurses in the Post-Pandemic Era.

In the post-pandemic era, the work pressure, trauma, anxiety, and burnout of shift nursing staff has continued to rise in all levels. By introducing Healing Games, turning interactions into game-like situations and using mindfulness as a framework, this will allow the nursing staff to realize their self-healing and help reduce stress.Through the establishment of this healing & stress-relieving game for nursing (HSR game-N) will also have a positive self-control effect on the negative emotions of work pressure. The application of such technology used by shift nurses can help negate and decrease the work pressure of shift nurses.

Effect of Periodized Interval Training in Combination with Explosive Strength and Speed in Game-Like Situation on Agility and High Intensity Aerobic Capacity of Youth Soccer Players

Study purpose. High-intensity aerobic capacity (HIAC) is essential for soccer players because they have to perform sprints of short duration in the shortest possible time. At the same time, they need to quickly change direction with and without the ball, which requires agility. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of a periodized (8-week) training plan that combines interval training (IT), explosive strength (ES), speed, and game-like situations on agility and HIAC in youth soccer players. Materials and methods. This research is an experimental study in which the population was male youth soccer players (N = 23) (aged 16.7±2.1). The Arrowhead Agility Test and the HIAC Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1 (YYIR1) have taken the pre- and post-data of agility. By using the formula for YYIR1 test: VO₂max (mL kg-1 min-1) = IR1 distance (m) × 0.0084 + 36.4, we get an estimation of the volume of maximum oxygen consumption (VO₂max). The data analysis used a t-test at 0.05% as the significance level. Results. Based on the results, the mean of the pre-tests in agility, YO-YO IR1, and VO₂max showed 17.911, 14.8100, and 55.25510. After training for eight weeks, there was an improvement: the mean showed 16.667, 15.9750, and 60.06960. As per the results of the data on the hypothesis in the study, it was found that there was a significant effect of periodized IT in combination with ES and speed on agility performance and HIAC of the youth soccer players. Conclusions. There was a significant effect of periodized IT in combination with ES and speed on improving youth soccer players’ agility performance and HIAC.

IMPACT OF INNOVATIVE ICE HOCKEY TRAINING METHODOLOGY ON THE IMPROVEMENT PROCESS

The main goal of this study is to apply and experiment a methodology for improving tactical training in ice hockey. For the proper conduct of the research and data comparison, two groups- experimental and control one, consisting of twenty children - eight to twelve age ranges, were formed. The research was conducted in 2018-2019 at the ice rink in the Winter Palace of Sports. Measurements including forward sprint 36m, forward sprint 9x6, slalom sprint, and sprint x8 were conducted. The results showed that the improvement in all specialized test indicators of the experimental group was obvious. The research and analysis of innovative training methodology in ice hockey techniques have proven positive changes in young players because it measured their performance before and after implementing the new techniques. The data collected showed improvement in various aspects such as speed, accuracy, and overall performance in game-like situations. Additionally, the specific and task-oriented training approach allowed players to learn and internalize the skills in a more efficient manner, resulting in faster development and improvement. Based on our data, we found that the created innovative training methodology in ice hockey technique offers a significant improvement in the process of motor actions refinement and tactical construction of dynamic situations.

Gaze behavior in social interactions between beach volleyball players-An exploratory approach.

Previous research has indicated that social interactions and gaze behavior analyses in a group setting could be essential tools in accomplishing group objectives. However, only a few studies have examined the impact of social interactions on group dynamics in team sports and their influence on team performance. This study aimed to investigate the effects of game performance pressure on the gaze behavior within social interactions between beach volleyball players during game-like situations. Therefore, 18 expert beach volleyball players conducted a high and a low game performance pressure condition while wearing an eye tracking system. The results indicate that higher game performance pressure leads to more and longer fixation on teammates’ faces. A higher need for communication without misunderstandings could explain this adaptation. The longer and more frequent look at the face could improve the receiving of verbal and non-verbal information of the teammate’s face. Further, players showed inter-individual strategies to cope with high game performance pressure regarding their gaze behavior, for example, increasing the number of fixations and the fixation duration on the teammate’s face. Thereby, this study opens a new avenue for research on social interaction and how it is influenced in/through sport.

Small-Sided Conditioned Games: A Drill for Overall Player Development in Soccer

The design of training programs that give team sports coaches reliable ways for improving training while promoting player performance has been a primary focus in sports sciences [1]. Bearing in mind, small-sided games are widely used by coaches, who think that training duplicates precise movement patterns produce the best outcomes [2]. The complexity of a soccer game (physical and mental demands) necessitates the completion of a multi-component training program [3], one of which is a small-sided conditioned game. Small-sided conditioned games (SSCG) are modified kinds of small games that are frequently used in training settings to teach a specific tactical skill to team game players. To meet the coaches’ desires, various conditions may be applied. SSCGs are expected to elicit changes in the technical execution and tactical behaviors of team game players, in addition to the acute effects of these drill-based small games on overall player performance [4]. In this structured drill, players must be able to change positions rapidly and play with or without the ball, requiring quick decision-making. According to previous research, players’ capability to decide on a challenging, ever-changing environment is heavily influenced by their developmental age, preparedness, and the situation’s complexity. Nevertheless, SSCG can fulfill the requirement of a professional football game since the players must face very complicated situations in a very tiny space. Indeed, the small-sided games give coaches the finest chance to watch and assess players’ individual and collective responses in game-like situations.

Comparing Some 10 m Distance Acceleration Forms in Futsal Female Players

The current research identified some forms of 10m acceleration and comparing three forms of launching speed for female futsal players. The researcher designed and standardized three special forms tests. The research aimed at designing and standardizing a test for acceleration in 10m to specify acceleration at 10m distance in three forms and comparing between tests results of the three forms. The researcher used the descriptive method on (70) female Iraqi national league futsal players who took the three first positions in league rankings. After applying the test the data was collected and treated using proper statistical operations to conclude the importance of training players on launch speed for a short distance in game-like situations.

Guessing the Game: An Individual’s Awareness and Assessment of a Game’s Existence

In everyday life, games begin inconspicuously, leaving an individual to stumble upon their assessment of a situation. An unaware individual is unlikely to exhibit strategic behavior in a given situation, which highlights the importance of awareness examination. The purpose of this exploratory analysis is to examine awareness and assessment of a game’s existence at the individual level. That requires examination of respondents’ detection (as an indication of their awareness) and identification (as an indication of their assessment) of game elements in game-like situations and their relation to awareness of the game existence. The empirical data is collected using a scenario technique and is statistically analyzed. The results show that the respondents are, on average, at least partially aware of possibility for strategic interaction (even in vague situations). The revealed regularities point out to the relation of the game elements to game existence belief, but also indicate the presence of psychological biases and information utilization issues. For example, the respondents assign different levels of belief to game existence regarding possible losses or gains. Research limitations involve the use of a small convenience sample and lead to suggestions for results validation in future research. Possible implications of the results are discussed.

Data-informed Intervention Improves Football Technique and Reduces Head Impacts.

ABSTRACTIntroductionAlthough sport participation is a key contributor to the physical and mental health of children and youth, exposure to subconcussive head impacts in football has raised concerns about safety for athletes.PurposeTo demonstrate the efficacy of incorporating targeted football drills into a team’s practice routine with the goal of improving players’ technique and reduce exposure to subconcussive head impacts.MethodsSeventy high school football players (age, 16.4 ± 1.1 yr) were tested PRE season using a sport-specific functional assessment. Results from the testing were used to inform the design of a prepractice intervention aimed at improving tackling and blocking techniques while reducing exposure to head impacts. The assessment included drills which evaluated the players’ ability to safely tackle, and block while simulating game-like situations. Testing was repeated at MID season (internal control) without an intervention, and again at POST season (experimental), after introduction of the prepractice intervention between these timepoints, administered twice weekly. All testing sessions were recorded, and subsequently reviewed by trained graders based on selected criteria defined by football coaches. A subset of 19 participants wore in-helmet accelerometers to assess the effectiveness of the intervention in decreasing head impacts during practice.ResultsSignificant improvements in blocking and tackling techniques were observed after the introduction of the intervention (P < 0.0001). Participating athletes also showed better techniques when evaluated in new game-like situations, postseason, providing evidence for proper acquisition and generalizability of these safer habits. Finally, frequency of head impacts (>15g) per practice was significantly reduced by ~30% after 1 month of training.ConclusionOur results suggest that data-informed methods can be used to improve coaching practices and promote safer play, which can have a positive public health impact moving forward.

Tapping the Full Potential? Jumping Performance of Volleyball Athletes in Game-Like Situations

Background: One key issue in elite interactive team sports is the simultaneous execution of motor actions (e.g., dribbling a ball) and perceptual-cognitive tasks (e.g., visually scanning the environment for action choices). In volleyball, one typical situation is to prepare and execute maximal block jumps after multiple-options decision-making and concurrent visual tracking of the ongoing game dynamics to find an optimal blocking location. Based on resource-related dual- and multi-tasking theories simultaneous execution of visual-cognitive and motor tasks may interfere with each other. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate whether volleyball-specific perceptual-cognitive demands (i.e., divided attention, decision making) affect blocking performance (i.e., jumping performance and length of the first step after the ready-block-position) compared to relatively isolated jumping performance.Methods: Twenty-two elite volleyball players (1st – 3rd German league) performed block jumps in front of a net construction in a single-task condition (ST) and in two perceptual (-cognitive) dual-task conditions including a dual-task low (DT_L; presenting a picture of an opponent attack on a screen) and a dual-task high condition (DT_H; presenting videos of an offensive volleyball set play with a two-alternative choice).Results: The results of repeated-measures ANOVAs showed a significant effect of conditions on jumping performance [F(2,42) = 33.64, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.62] and on the length of the first step after the ready-block-position [F(2,42) = 7.90, p = 0.001, ηp2 = 0.27). Post hoc comparisons showed that jumping performance in DT_H (p < 0.001) and DT_L (p < 0.001) was significantly lower than in ST. Also, length of the first step after the ready-block-position in DT_H (p = 0.005) and DT_L (p = 0.028) was significantly shorter than in ST.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that blocking performance (i.e., jumping height, length of the first step) decreases in elite volleyball players when a perceptual (-cognitive) load is added. Based on the theory of Wickens (2002), this suggests a resource overlap between visual-processing demands for motor performance and for tracking the dynamics of the game. Interference with the consequence of dual-task related performance costs can therefore also be found in elite athletes in their specific motor expert domain.

PSYCHO-PEDAGOGICAL TECHNOLOGY OF MORAL EDUCATION OF PRESCHOOLERS: AN INNOVATIVE OPINION

Moral upbringing of preschoolers is a complex process, because the children often violate the rules and regulations though knowing them. The reasons for such behavior are based on the age-related peculiarities, influence of the environment and the individual development traits. When there is a lack of adult control, the junior preschooler will not “see” his own violations, although admitting his peers to have them. This is because he is not yet aware of the necessity and importance of ethical behavior for himself. For successful implementation of the moral education tasks, the psycho-pedagogical support of this process should be provided. In the course of development, a child works out the moral behavior skills, getting into different situations. These game-like situations are used as educational, and promote the improvement of the child’s moral development level.

Jogos, sociabilidade e conflito no Brasil

Games, competitions and plays are some of the most constant phenomena of human experience. According to the classic formulation of Johan Huizinga’s Homo ludens (from 1938), culture itself would derive its fundamental features from the elementary structure of play. To him, poetry, law, war, music, religion and everything we regard as serious, sacred and respectful derive at some level from ancient sacred games, and still keep their elementary features. In social theory, the participation in games and competitions usually highlights their symbolic, ritual and communicational aspects, as well as their links to wider sociability networks. However, it should be noted that game-like situations show a great potential for the expression of social dramas, as they develop the passion they raise out of the dramatic tension of the conflicts they represent. In this paper, starting from two ethnographic experiences, we wish to explore the symbolic dimension of ordinary participation in games in Brazilian culture. Keywords : games, social interaction, sociability.

Physical actions and work-rest time in women’s beach volleyball

The purpose of this study was to assess the ball contacts, jumps, hits, work time, and rest time for women’s beach volleyball players in relation to their in-game role. The sample of this study was composed of 2,708 rallies played by 48 female beach volleyball players, which corresponded to 69 sets of the 2008 Olympic Games. The variables recorded were: ball contacts, jumps, hits, work time, rest time, and player’s role (defense specialist, blocker, or no specialization). A significantly higher number of jumps were performed by blockers. No differences were found in the number of contacts or hits. The work : rest ratio was 1 : 5. This paper discusses how the data can be used to create game-like situations in practices regarding physical demands in women’s beach volleyball.

Changes in Drop-Jump Landing Biomechanics During Prolonged Intermittent Exercise

Background:As injury rates rise in the later stages of sporting activities, a better understanding of lower extremity biomechanics in the later phases of gamelike situations may improve training and injury prevention programs.Hypothesis:Lower extremity biomechanics of a drop-jump task (extracted from a principal components analysis) would reveal factors associated with risk of anterior cruciate ligament injury during a 90-minute individualized intermittent exercise protocol (IEP) and for 1 hour following the IEP.Study Design:Controlled laboratory study.Level of Evidence:Level 4.Methods:Fifty-nine athletes (29 women, 30 men) completed 3 sessions. The first session assessed fitness for an IEP designed to simulate the demands of a soccer match. An experimental session assessed drop-jump biomechanics, after a dynamic warm-up, every 15 minutes during the 90-minute IEP, and for 1 hour following the IEP. A control session with no exercise assessed drop-jump performance at the same intervals.Results:Two biomechanical factors early in the first half (hip flexion at initial contact and hip loading; ankle loading and knee shear force) decreased at the end of the IEP and into the 60-minute recovery period, while a third factor (knee loading) decreased only during the recovery period (P ≤ 0.05).Conclusion:The individualized sport-specific IEP may have more subtle effects on landing biomechanics when compared with short-term, exhaustive fatigue protocols.Clinical Relevance:Potentially injurious landing biomechanics may not occur until the later stages of soccer activity.

Time–Motion and Physiological Profile of Football Training Sessions Performed by Under-15, Under-17, and Under-19 Elite Portuguese Players

To provide the time-motion and physiological profile of regular training sessions (TS) performed during the competitive season by under-15 (U15), under-17 (U17), and under-19 (U19) elite-level Portuguese soccer players. One hundred fifty-one elite players of U15 (age 14.0 ± 0.2 y, n = 56), U17 (age 15.8 ± 0.4 y, n = 66), and U19 (age 17.8 ± 0.6 y, n = 29) participated in the study during a 9-wk period. Time-motion and body-impact data were collected using GPS technology (15 Hz) across 38 randomly selected TS that resulted in a total of 612 samples. In addition, heart rate (HR) was continuously monitored (1 Hz) in the selected TS. The total distances covered (m) were higher in U17 (4648.3 ± 831.9), followed by U19 (4212.5 ± 935.4) and U15 (3964.5 ± 725.4) players (F = 45.84, P < .001). Total body impacts and relative impacts were lower in U15 (total: 490.8 ± 309.5, F = 7.3, P < .01), but no differences were identified between U17 (total: 584.0 ± 363.5) and U19 (total: 613.1 ± 329.4). U19 players had less high- and very-high-intensity activity (above 16 km/h; F = 11.8, P < .001) and moderate-intensity activity (10.0-15.9 km/h; F = 15.07, P < .001). HR values showed significant effects of zone (F = 575.7, P < .001) and interaction with age group (F = 9.7, P < .001), with pairwise differences between all zones (zone 1, <75%; zone 2, 75-84.9%; zone 3, 85-89.9%; zone 4, ≥90%). All players spent most of their time below 75% HRmax (U15, ~50%; U17, ~42%; U19, ~50%). Results showed high variability between TS, refraining from identifying meaningful trends when measuring performance, although different demands were identified according to age group. The U15 TS were less physiologically demanding, probably because of increased focus on small-sided games to develop basic tactical principles and technical skills. The focus on game-like situations imposed higher external and internal workloads on U17 and U19 players.

TOWARDS A CALCULUS FOR NONDETERMINISTIC SCHEMAS IN Z

In our previous work, we presented a Z-based formalism, called NZ, by which one can explicitly specify bounded, unbounded, erratic, angelic, demonic, loose, strict, singular, and plural nondeterminism. The NZ notation is mainly based on a new notion of operation schemas, called multi-schema. Since the operations of the Z schema calculus do not work on multi-schemas anymore, in this paper we augment NZ with a new set of schema calculus operations that can be applied on multi-schemas as well as ordinary operation schemas. To demonstrate the usability of the resulting formalism, we show how this formalism can assist to model game-like situations and concurrent systems as two well-known classes of nondeterministic systems.

The impact of Game Sense pedagogy on Australian rugby coaches' practice: a question of pedagogy

Background: Recent developments in games and sport teaching such as that of Teaching Games for Understanding, Play Practice and Game Sense suggest that they can make a significant contribution toward the development of tactical understanding, ability to read the game, decision-making and a general ‘sense of the game’, yet empirical research conducted on their application in sport coaching lags behind research on their application in physical education. This article redresses this oversight by drawing on a study that inquired into the impact that Game Sense has had on elite-level rugby coaches in Australia. Aims: The purpose of the study was to inquire into the ways in which elite-level rugby coaches interpret and used the Game Sense approach to coaching and to explore the reasons for this. Method: This study comprises four case studies on Australian rugby coaches who were working, or had worked at, provincial and/or national levels. Data were generated through noted observations and a series of extended, semi-structured interviews conducted over a four-month period. A constant-comparative approach used in grounded theory was employed to analyse the data from the interviews. The analysis involved identification of themes and ideas and the development of substantive theory that was tested in subsequent interviews and connected to formal theory later in the analytic process. Results: The coaches in this study value games-based training using them to: (1) test skills in game-like situations; (2) develop decision-making and aspects of a ‘sense of the game’ through implicit learning that cannot be directly taught to players; and (3) develop match-specific fitness. However, Games Sense pedagogy has had a relatively limited influence on their coaching, with none of them familiar with either Game Sense pedagogy or the concept of pedagogy in general. Conclusion: This study suggests that while elite-level rugby coaches in Australia value games as part of their training, the distinctive, player-centred, Game Sense pedagogy has had little impact upon rugby coaching. This suggests that implementing significant change in coaches' pedagogical practice, such as that required for implementing a Game Sense approach, is not an easy task. A lack of attention to pedagogy in Australian rugby coach education programmes seems to have limited the impact of Game Sense on rugby coaching in Australia and is an area in need of attention in both coach education and the coaching literature.

Expression of game-related and generic knowledge by dementia patients who retain skill at playing dominoes.

Patients with dementia who remain skilled at musical performance or playing bridge fail explicit memory tests for information related to their skills, suggesting that implicit memory mediates their preserved skills. To reexamine this issue, 23 dementia patients and 15 elderly controls of comparable domino-playing skill were compared on tests of naming, verbal fluency, and domino knowledge. On an explicit test of domino knowledge, the patients scored well below the elderly controls, performing no better than students who were unfamiliar with the game. But when game-like situations were created with real dominoes, both the skilled controls and the patients with dementia chose optimal moves and verbally explained their choices equally well. On naming and fluency tests, the skilled patients showed no advantage over patients of comparable dementia severity who had no retained skill. In dementia, some complex knowledge seems intact but is accessible only in particular contexts.

Persuading Caesar: A new interpretation of Farquharson's problem

Merely because voting takes place in a real-life social decision system, we are not thereby confronted by a ‘voting game’. Often we are confronted by something that looks more like an advising game, in which voting is mainly important as a language by which policymakers render advice to other policymakers (possibly including their own future selves) who will act later. In this brief research note, the foregoing theme is illustrated by re-interpreting the same case from ancient Roman senatorial politics which inspired Robin Farquharson's seminal Theory of Voting. I stress that the contributions of this article lie entirely in the interpretation of allegedly gamelike situations, not in the formal analysis of games proper.

Counter-intuitive results in game theory

General comparative game statics results are derived in order to provide testable hypotheses in game-like situations. These results run counter to ordinary economic intuition. It becomes necessary to initially define whether a situation represents perfect competition or monopoly on the one hand or a game-like situation on the other hand because these different assumptions lead to greatly differing results. Several empirical applications of the theory are suggested.

On the structure of shared awareness

Sentences of the form, “A thinks B thinks ⃛,” arise in the analysis of game-like situations and in the sociology of knowledge. These are modeled by a Boolean algebra with operators, where “A believes x,” is written Ax. Operators ∩j=1 (∞i, Ai)j representing complete consensus or “common opinion” are defined. Properties of these epistemic operators are derived from postulates. Sociological features of content, stability and change of shared awareness are discussed. Finally, the model is used to solve a class of 2-person 0-sum games in which the conventional requirements for mutual knowledge are relaxed.