Interaction Between Individual, Environment and Task in Motor Learning: The Effects of Competitive Atmosphere and Mental Toughness in Learning Two Simple and Complex Sport Skills

The goal of the present study was to investigate the interaction between individual (mental toughness), environment (competitive atmosphere) and task (two simple and complex sport skills) in motor learning. Subjects included 104 undergraduate students whom were divided into two groups with high and low mental toughness based on mental toughness Questionnaire 48. Than the subjects were divided into eight matched groups following pretest (n1=n2=…=n8=13). The four groups in competitive atmosphere and the four groups in noncompetitive atmosphere performed basketball skills. At the determined and given competitive condition, the groups performed the task for 15 sessions every alternate day. Verbal feedback was provided to participants in acquisition sessions. One week after acquisition training, the retention test were taken. For analyzing data, one way and repeated measure ANOVA were used (P