Difficulty-manipulation-based learning effects on throwing performances and achievement goals in young boys

Background: Motor development in essential for ensuring mastery in daily motor activities. Nonetheless, skill acquisition is still requiring strategies inducing efficient motor learning. Objective: The aim of this research is to investigate whether a short period of learning a novel psychomotor task, based on difficulty manipulation, affects throwing performances and achievement goals adoption and stability in 11-12-year-old boys. Methods: Forty-one right-handed boys (M ± SD; age 11.3 ± 0.4 years, body height 147 ± 8.94 cm, body mass 40.57 ± 8.1 kg) were assigned to either control group (no difficulty manipulations), experimental group 1 (one dimension difficulty manipulation obtained by increasing the distance of the throws), and experimental group 2 (two-dimension difficulty with progressive manipulation of both distance and dartboard dimension). Three sessions were conducted within one week: pre-test, post-test, and retention test. Performance was evaluated by the accuracy (the mean score and the numbers of zeros) and consistency (the coefficients of variation). Two conditions were investigated: free condition and time pressure condition. For comparison of the tests, the analysis of variance was used. Bland and Altman correlations were used to assess the relationships between variables. Results: This study demonstrated that only the experimental group 1 made significant improvement in accuracy performance with better mean scores in the retention test when compared to the post-test (p = .01), and in a consistency measure with lower values at the retention test than at the post-test (p < .001). The control group made a higher number of errors at the retention test after time pressure condition than free condition (p = .02). Mean scores were found to be significantly correlated with consistency and errors (r = .81 and .78, respectively). However, analyses did not show significant dependence between achievement goals adoption for all groups. Conclusions: Accordingly, the progressive manipulation of difficulty level plays a major role in the improvement and durability of learning in the retention phase. However, it was not related to a change in the achievement goals adoption and stability.