BATAK
CASE STUDY
"Investigating
Physiological Responses to Differently Distributed
Practice and their Effects on the Learning and
Performance of a Gross Motor Task"
Andy Blow
University of Bath (Department of Sport
and Exercise Science) and Benetton Formula One
Human Performance Centre
The
project aimed to utilise the BATAK
reaction board to assess what effect different
methods of practice had on the learning and
performance of a reaction based task over repeated
30 second intervals.
Origin
of the Idea
The idea was conceived from a set of data originally
collected at the playzone of the Millenium Dome
where several hundred individuals were observed
recorded whilst completing the 30 second accumulator.
This task required the participant to stand
in front of the BATAK board
and accumulate points by striking out as many
lit buttons as possible in 30 seconds. It was
noticed that individuals who played the game
more than once rapidly increased their score
level. In fact, members of staff at the playzone,
who often played several times a day, were extremely
proficient often scoring 3 - 4 times as many
hits as a novice. The research project therefore
aimed to look at which kind of practice methods
were most effective at improving their BATAK
score something that is directly related to
their ability to see, process and react to visual
information.
Research
Project
Volunteers for the project were a group of
19 - 29 year old sportsmen from a variety
of sports. They were split into two groups
and practised the BATAK game
80 times. This was done in a continuous manner
with no rest between 30 second games (known
as massed practice) or with 30 seconds rest
between each game (known as distributed practice).
During the trials the subjects wore a device
to measure the amount of oxygen they consumed
and read their heart rate. This gave an idea
of the level of physical activity attained
during the repeated games.
Results and Conclusions
The results showed that there was very little
difference between the two groups in terms
of how much they improved over the trials.
However, it was clear that there was a relationship
between the level of physical stress and physical
activation and the performance level. Those
subjects who achieved a higher heart rate
and oxygen uptake (more physical stress /
activation) scored more highly in the tests.
This trend suggested that the performance
of the BATAK task (and similar
sporting tasks) is approaching optimal when
the performer is physically and mentally 'up
for it' and motivated. This kind of idea is
not new to sport and exercise science but
what is interesting is that the performance
on the BATAK system in different
states of readiness may provide a measurable
way to assess a sportsman's optimal level
of physical activation for reaction type tasks.
It is hoped to continue research in this area
to further explore the ideas generated by
this study.
 |
PROFILE: Andy
Blow
BSc (hons) Sport and Exercise
Science. University of Bath. Ex
Sports Scientist to Benetton and Renault
Formula 1 teams
Now
running the votwo
lab with Phil Mosley Andy's
expertise is available to athletes at
all levels helping them to accurately
measure their fitness and prepare more
scientifically for competition. |
|
BATAK Pro 
