Impact of Motor Learning on Overall Skill-Related Anxiety

Abstract

The aim of this research is to determine the differences in participants’ overall anxiety and its factors before and after the motor skill learning process. A sample consisted of 96 examinees, college students who attended 3 learning sessions of a handspring vault in a crouch position. Students estimated their own anxiety by a questionnaire on a scale 1 – 4 at the beginning of the learning process and before the third session. Total anxiety is constructed of 3 factors: somatic, cognitive and self-confidence. The results showed that the highest manifestation of student’s anxiety was in the self-confidence referring to the highest (the worst) result, then in cognitive factor and the lowest in somatic factor. The average overall student’s anxiety reduced from 2.26 to 1.83, and the reduction (improvement) is manifested in all three anxiety factors. Anxiety reduction could be affected by adaptation processes, higher level of motor skill performance, controlled condition in the learning process, and interaction of all mentioned. The conclusion is that the motor learning can reduce the skill-related anxiety so it is recommended that high-anxiety participants are retained in the learning process.